Florida-based metalcore veterans Underoath have released a new single titled “Damn Excuses” through Fearless Records. The song marks the band’s first release of new music since 2018’s Grammy-nominated album Erase Me, and marks a new chapter in their career.

According to the band, “Damn Excuses” was partly inspired by their Observatory livestream experience last year, which saw the band breathing new and creative life into the world of live music consumption in a time when the COVID-19 pandemic had sucked life out of the industry.

The song is said to evoke the beautiful chaos that fans of Underoath have come to expect from the band after their over two-decade long career. “This song came out of nowhere for us,” explains Chris Dudley, keyboardist for the band. “In hindsight, it probably stems emotionally from the anxiousness that a year of isolation will give you, and that ‘wanting-to-explode’ feeling came out with zero effort. It was therapeutic. This is us ready to get back into a loud room with sweaty people and experience something real together.” 

“Damn Excuses” is a blistering track highlighted by fast-chugging down-tuned guitars and blood-curdling screams in the verses. As the song progresses, the band pulls back the intensity for a more sludge-y soundscape with colossal sounding guitar breaks and giant-stomping drums.

Underoath are set to perform at the inaugural 2021 Rebel Rock festival at the Central Florida Fairgrounds in Orlando, FL on Sept. 25. The festival runs from Sept. 24 to 26, and features other artists like Machine Gun Kelly, Limp Bizkit, Five Finger Death Punch and The Used.

Earlier this year, the Underoath community faced tragedy when former guitarist and vocalist Corey Steger passed away as a result of a fatal car accident back in March. Steger was with the band from 1998 to 2001, and can be heard on the band’s albums Act Of Depression and Cries of the Past.